Higher bond sought after ex-cop's wife files for divorce

Two other former officers already released on bail

February 06, 2013|By Clifford Ward | Special to the Tribune

Former Schaumburg tactical police officer Terrance O'Brien appears for a reduced bail hearing in DuPage County Court on Jan. 31. He is one of three Schaumburg police officers accused of operating a drug ring. (Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune)

DuPage prosecutors say they want to increase the bond on a former Schaumburg police officer after learning his wife filed for divorce following his arrest on charges that he operated a drug ring with fellow officers.

Terrance O’Brien’s bond should be increased to its original level – $750,000 full cash bond – because he lacks a supportive family situation, according to a motion filed in DuPage court.

O’Brien, 47, is one of three Schaumburg officers federal agents arrested last month in Carol Stream. The officers, who have resigned, are accused of buying and selling illegal drugs. Matthew Hudak and John Cichy were released on bond this week, after Judge Blanche Hill Fawell reduced their bonds.

The judge also lowered O’Brien’s bond, to $300,000, after hearing representations about his domestic life that prosecutors say are inaccurate.

“The people have learned that his soon-to-be ex-wife, and her family, do not want defendant to return to and reside in the Palatine home,” according to the motion.

O’Brien’s wife, the mother of their four children, filed for divorce in Cook County on Jan. 22, just six days after his arrest, according to the document.

During court proceedings, it was revealed that O’Brien was engaged in a long-term affair with a woman named Nicole Brehm, who was also arrested on charges that she stored drugs at her residence for the officers.

Brehm and O’Brien, who both remain in the county jail, are the parents of a teenage child, prosecutors said.